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Evaluating Rates of Depression Utilizing the PHQ-9 in Persons with Chronic Pain
lerner, zack
lerner, zack
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Abstract
AbstractChronic pain is prevalent in the United States affecting nearly 20% of the population. While chronic pain usually is initiated by a physical stimulus, it often transforms into a derangement of the nervous system leading to pain that is hard to control and often disproportionate to the level of subsequent stimuli. The process of chronic pain in the nervous system also is linked closely to psychological comorbidities, especially depression. Patients suffering from uncontrolled chronic pain and depression often become disabled, causing lost workdays, loss of income, family distress, and overall loss of life quality. Pain management providers do not consistently screen for depression which can lead to patient mismanagement. The first step to addressing depression in patients with chronic pain is to screen patients for depression so they can receive appropriate care and achieve the best treatment outcomes. This quality improvement (QI) project implemented the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) which was distributed and used to screen for depression in patients experiencing chronic pain in one midwestern urban pain clinic. Scores of eight or higher on the PHQ-9 indicated the need for mental health support and patients with these scores were identified and provided with appropriate referral recommendations. Review of all the questionnaires was conducted by the nurse practitioner (NP) running the QI project. Forty-nine new patients filled out the PHQ-9, of whom 19 had scores >=8 and 30 had scores =8 and 30 had scores =8 were already in treatment and five people with scores <8 who were previously diagnosed with depression were either currently or had previously been in treatment. It was concluded that screening for depression for patients in chronic pain might result in improvement in chronic pain outcomes and overall quality of life.Keywords: pain, chronic, efficacy, therapy, program, management, depression, PHQ-9, screening, tools
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2021-12-31
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University of Kansas
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866844_1.pdf
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Nursing, Psychology, Health education, Chronic, Depression, Pain, PHQ-9, Screening, Tools